It Had to Happen

Yesterday at church, the title of the sermon was “Meet the Requirements” The central point of the sermon was everything that we have gone through was required. It was all part of the requirements. It caused a shift in my perspective on this last season of my life which I have labeled as hell on Earth. The season I have been in over the last year or so has been rough and hard. It has been a lot of afflictions, trials, tribulations, loss, grief, etc. It has felt like I have seen more negative than I have positive. It has brought more questions than answers. It has made me wonder if God was still with me. In short, this has been the hardest season.

It is not uncommon for us to look back over our life and wonder why we had to go through or experience certain things. When we look at those things through our human mind, it seems like those things were punishment, unnecessary, or even pointless. But God sees all those things differently. It was all part of the requirements for what He has for us and where He is going to take us. It is necessary to get what He has for us. It is necessary for where he is taking us.

So many things in the natural world have requirements….jobs, loans, degree programs, everything. Pretty much everything has requirements that must be met to get whatever it is that is desired. Requirements are not an option but are mandatory. Meeting the requirements ensures that you are qualified for whatever completing the requirements gets you. It is the same in the spiritual world. God has requirements for the calling He has placed on our life. God has requirements to meet to get the things He has for us. God has requirements to meet to go where He wants to take us. It is not because He is trying to make things hard on us. It is so that things are not premature and to ensure that we are fully ready. Because if it is before time, we will mishandle it. He knows what our future holds and what is needed to be prepared for it. Oftentimes, what is needed is only produced from being in the fire, produced from going through certain things.

Romans 5:3-4 says “And not only this, but [with joy] let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance; and endurance, proven character (spiritual maturity); and proven character, hope and confident assurance [of eternal salvation].”. Notice there is a process in these verses: suffering brings about perseverance, perseverance brings about character, and character brings about hope. Each phase of the process builds on the previous. Without suffering, there’s no perseverance. Without perseverance, there’s no character. Without character, there’s no hope.

We interpret pain as punishment. But when it comes to God, pain is usually preparation. Joseph is a good example. Joseph had a dream about the influence he would have. As we know, before all of that, Joseph ended up in a pit. Joseph had to endure all that he went through to shape him into the leader Egypt needed him to be. Had Joseph not gone through the pit, he would not have what he needed to complete the assignment he was given. Everything he went through was part of God’s process in shaping him to handle the weight of his calling. Genesis 50:20 says, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day].” In other words, what looked like an attack was really an assignment. What was intended to harm us, God used to equip and qualify us.

If we never went through things and life was easy, we would have no need for God. We would be prideful and trust in ourselves more than trusting Him. Hard seasons teach us to rely fully on God. Hard seasons expose the true state of our heart. Hard seasons force us to seek God and not just seek His hand or what He can give us. Every person that was used by God had to experience certain things to meet certain requirements that would prepare them for the call.

In reading this, we can reflect on battles we have fought, ones that no one even knows about, the silent struggles and in them we asked the question of “Why me God?”. The truth is, we met the requirements. Every sleepless night, unanswered question, the times we showed up when we wanted to quit, and every other circumstance counted. It was all preparation. We are not disqualified. We are not behind. We are not overlooked. We are being qualified for the thing we are meant to do. Our story is not random. Our journey is not wasted. Everything we went through was required for the weight we carry.

I want to encourage you in the same way the sermon encouraged me. Don’t despise or discredit the requirements. Embrace them. Thank God for them. Even when we don’t understand the reason behind them, we have to trust that He is working things out. God doesn’t cut corners. He doesn’t rush the process. He is meticulous in the journey so when the promise comes, we are able to sustain it. We have met the requirements. What is next makes everything worth it. As a final word, IT WAS ALL REQUIRED AND PART OF THE PROCESS!